SUPPORT-SYSTEMS (41) Q3 Examples of civil society organisations and health policymaking

22 May, 2022

Dear HIFA colleagues,

Thank you for your contributions to the discussion to support the SUPPORT-SYSTEMS research project: How can decision-making processes for health systems strengthening and universal health coverage be made more inclusive, responsive and accountable? This is a major research collaboration between the University of Ghana, the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and HIFA, funded by the Norwegian Research Council.

All your contributions will be synthesised to inform the wider research project and made publicly available on HIFA’s website.

We are now entering our third week and invite you to consider Question 3:

Q3 Can you share examples of the role of civil society organisations in health policymaking at national or sub-national levels?

These can be examples from your own personal experience or examples you know about from the literature. For example, in week 1, Fatima Suleman shared two articles presenting the Treatment Action Campaign’s (https://www.tac.org.za/ ) advocacy and influence on improving access to medicines, which has included bringing different kinds of evidence to bear to strengthen the arguments for equitable access.

As said previously, we use the term civil society widely to include non-profit organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, village health committees, informal groups, people assembled through community meetings, citizen juries or other types of deliberative forums and more.

Looking forward very much to hear about your examples, especially where you have been involved in them yourself.

Best wishes, Neil

Joint Coordinator, HIFA SUPPORT-SYSTEMS

https://www.hifa.org/projects/new-support-systems-how-can-decision-makin...

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HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is global coordinator of the HIFA global health movement (Healthcare Information For All - www.hifa.org ), a global community with more than 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting on six global forums in four languages in official relations with WHO. HIFA brings stakeholders together to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information.

Twitter: @hifa_org neil@hifa.org